Growing tired of the same old playlists? Exhausted your extensive library of albums? It sounds like you need an injection of brand new music in your life. To do so, you can dig through the massive back catalogues of streaming services, ask friends, or look to music publications. Or, if you need an extra helping hand, we’ve found some pretty cool tools that you should check out.
Spotify ‘Discover Weekly’
If you’re a Spotify user, you’ll already know that Monday is synonymous with new music, more specifically the ‘Discover Weekly’ playlist. Debuting back in 2015, Spotify observes your listening habits, takes some data from the millions of playlists that already exist and blends them together with a clever algorithm delivering you a fresh playlist every week. Just remember to take note of the tracks you like, as it refreshes every week. Most streaming services have a similar tool, but we find that Spotify has the most effective version.
Bandcamp
You may have already heard of Bandcamp as a platform for purchasing music from independent artists, but it’s also a useful tool for finding new music. It’s very own ‘Discover’ area allows you to pick different search categories including genres, tags, formats and more. There are plenty of curation possibilities in their too, including their fan pages which allow you to show off you latest purchases, create wish lists, leave notes on favourite tracks and follow selected artists to keep up to date with their latest goings on.
Cymbal
It’s easy to get tied up in dozens of social media platforms nowadays, but Cymbal’s objective is simple. Its users post their latest music obsession with its album artwork and appear in a newsfeed similar to Instagram. You can follow your friends and users with similar tastes and search hashtags to uncover some new gems for your personal library.
Last.fm is the ultimate tool to track your ever-changing music tastes and introduce you to the next artist you love. All you need to do is create an account, connect it to your streaming service (or download their desktop app if you listen to music via iTunes), and start listening. Your profile will keep record of everything you spin. After listening for a decent period, Last.fm will have enough data to whip up some personal recommendations. The app also recommends new artists, reintroduces songs you’ve previously heard, and posts upcoming concerts of artists found in your library.
If you’re an avid TV or movie fan, your ears may not wander too far into the music world. Luckily, WhatSong helps you identify songs that soundtrack whatever you watch. If you hear a song while watching your latest TV obsession, you can search the episode and find the specific moment where the song was played.
Indie Shuffle prides itself on its army of international music fanatics prepared to curate you a new playlist, all without using algorithms but from real music lovers. The twist here is the focus on indie and unsigned artists, making it a much more unique offering. If you’re an indie artist yourself, you can even submit your own material for the site.
An absolute doddle to use, MagicPlaylist lets you enter a song title into their search bar and hey presto, you have a new playlist. This web app uses an algorithm and the Spotify API to determine which songs to pick. You can then save the list in your Spotify account and edit the playlist accordingly. Very useful for a quick and easy route to new tunes.
Like graphs? Then we’ve got a recommendation for you. Simply type in an artist or band on the Music Roamer website and you’ll be given similar bands and their tracks to sample. Click on one of these bands, select more similar artists and watch it expand further. Do this enough times and you’ll have a screen full of new material to listen to!
Are you tired of seeing artists you dislike when searching for new music? Sage, a music recommendation engine powered by artificial intelligence, can help with that. The search engine accumulates music suggestions based on artists you like and dislike. It uses public data gathered by Last.fm to teach the brain behind the program about new music. Supposedly, it knows over 200,000 artists and never stops learning more.
Another great tool for those wanting to avoid algorithm based recommendations. 8tracks features millions of playlists curated by other users to explore, built mainly around various moods and themes. Feeling sleepy? There’s a playlist to help you nod off. Angry? Plenty of tunes to rage to. Premium users can save playlists and enjoy ad free streaming.
Are there any platforms we’ve managed to miss off? Make sure you let us know in the comments section below.